Professional Arts at Chicago
The University of Chicago shares a significant place at the vanguard of creative expression in the city’s thriving art scene. The Smart Museum of Art, Court Theatre, and the Renaissance Society—all located on campus—bring high levels of artistic expression into the University community. In turn, scholarly work informs and shapes these institutions and their artistic missions.
In 2008, Court Theatre staged the Chicago premiere of Tony Kushner’s Caroline, or Change, which garnered rave reviews and sold-out performances.
The Smart Museum of Art introduced the city to Displacement: The Three Gorges Dam and Contemporary Chinese Art, an exhibition of work by four leading Chinese artists created in response to the controversial dam project that has displaced over a million people and submerged more than 1,000 towns and villages.
In a historic election year, the Renaissance Society brought the topic of race to the forefront with Black Is, Black Ain’t, an exhibition of works by 26 black and non-black artists whose work together examines the cultural production of so-called “blackness” alongside efforts to make race socially and politically irrelevant.
The Oriental Institute Museum presented Catastrophe! The Looting and Destruction of Iraq’s Past, marking the fifth anniversary of the looting of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad.
The University of Chicago Presents hosts numerous notable classical and jazz performers every year, including the University’s new music collective Contempo, under the guidance of Pulitzer Prize–winning composer and University professor Shulamit Ran.
Artspeaks brings a wide variety of artists to campus for workshops, presentations, performances, and conversation. Visiting artists in spring 2009 include performance artist/writer Guillermo Gómez-Peña, pianist Leon Fleisher, and visual artist Kara Walker.
At International House, the Global Voices film and performing arts series promotes cross-cultural understanding and respect and the exchange of ideas among people of all nations and backgrounds.
Rockefeller Memorial Chapel is not only the setting for spiritual events of many world traditions, but a venue for exceptional musical performances, art exhibits, and theatrical events. It is the home of two great musical instruments, both recently restored: the E. M. Skinner organ and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon.
